William R. Pelger, Attorney at Law in Munhall, PA

If I fell through a rotted deck. Is landlord responsible.

Q: I was on my friend’s deck. I took a step towards the front door and my leg broke through a board causing me to go down and landed on my sacroiliac joint (cross beam broke my fall all the way down) I have permanent injuries to my SI joint, back, knees, feet, ankles. neck and ended up with Fibromyalgia as a result of this. I’ve been in physical therapy for over a year and I am looking for a clear answer of liability. My understanding is whether this landlord knew the deck was unsafe or not or they should have. Was it up to code? How old is this deck? Was it inspected? Done by a professional contractor or shoddily built by that homeowner? The boards were unsealed, weathered, potential to splinter, but not wobbly, so myself nor my friends (the occupants) would not have had any reason to think the deck was unsafe. Especially since the landlord came up and painted that deck over the rotten boards. I have over 20k in medical bills and a ton of Doctors now. To be clear, this is a rented manufactured home with a small deck built on to front entrance The tenants do not maintain the property. The landlord fixes everything.

A: Al these questions you ask are good questions and need to be known. Do not try to settle this with the Landlord or the insurance company yourself. You will end up losing. The landlord could be responsible, it could be the deck manufacturer, it could be the contractor who built the deck, who knows at this point. That is why you get an attorney. The attorney will investigate and conduct discovery. There is probably insurance coverage somewhere. Do not waste time nor let evidence be disappear.